


Wandering Forever

by Pararow



Category: Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beast Wirt, Because of his sass, Bondage, Dom/sub, F/M, Fights, Gregory just wants the best for his brother, He's his favorite lantern bearer ever, I hurt him too much, Kinda, M/M, Magic, Multi, Poor Wirt, Possession, Possessive Behavior, Post-Canon, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sara is a badass, Supernatural Elements, Temporary Amnesia, The Beast loves Wirt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 04:24:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11028579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pararow/pseuds/Pararow
Summary: Sara and her friends are able to find Gregory unconscious by the river over the graveyard's garden wall. Yet his older brother Wirt is still yet to be found. The man hunt quickly turns into a body hunt, but Gregory is certain that Wirt is still alive and out there. But nobody believes him, nobody except for Sara. Gregory decides to escort Sara over the garden wall, in hopes of setting foot into The Unknown once more, with Sara in tow, to find out what happened and to find his older brother, who did not come back with him.





	1. Out of the Unknown, and into the Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I'm excited for this, I have plenty of ideas! I hope you like it!

Gregory coughed, falling onto the grass near the water's edge of the river, breathing heavily, facing face down. It was dark, he was cold, and exhausted, he held tightly onto his frog, who was still alive and well, croaking loudly in a desperate attempt to get attention from someone, anyone who could help them. Greg would not survive long in the cold fall air, coupled with being soaked by cold water, the boy would die here if nobody came to help him. Luckily, as Greg weakly picked his head up, looking around, his eyes caught sight of a bright light, his pupils shrinking in reaction to it shining in his face. He tried to say something to them, but his voice only came out as a pained whisper as his head fell face down to the grass, the teapot on his head hastily falling down and resting by the river's edge. He let out a hacking cough and a whimper curling in on himself. Being cold, tired, and almost having the life sucked out of you by both water and trees alike took a toll on even the most lively of children. The voices were getting closer, he picked them out as Wirt's friends from school, that was good, he would be happy to see them. The voice of Sara rung out the loudest of the worried and rushed whispers.

 

"Greg! I found Greg!" She yelled out to the other's pointing to the boy and the frog. She ran over, putting her flashlight down and feeling the boy through his wet clothes, a worried expression went on her face. "He's freezing! He'll die out here, we need to call 911!" She yelled out, taking her jacket and looking at the frog, who croaked loudly. If she hadn't heard the almost desperate croak she wouldn't have come to investigate, and Greg would have most certainly died alone and cold. She wrapped the small boy in her jacket, picking him up and holding him close, looking around, she realized something. Wirt wasn't with Greg, Greg was alone, with only a frog for company. "Where's Wirt?! Does anyone see Wirt?" She asked in a worried tone. Greg was far gone by now, unconscious, but breathing, resting against Sara's shoulder. The other teenagers scurried around, yelling out for Wirt, looking around on the other end of the river, looking inside the rolling water as well.

 

"Maybe he was swept downriver!" One of them yelled out, pointing the way down where the river current was headed. Sara's eyes widened. No...No that can't be true. She looked over at Jason Funderberker, who was very quickly talking to 911, trying to tell them what was going on. At least they would get help for Greg, and they would find Wirt soon, she knew it.

 

"Wirt! Wirt! Wiiiiiiirt!" There was, of course, no answer, she didn't expect one. He just seemed to disappear. And all she could do was sit there with Greg and warm him up, watching as the other kids looked around, and slowly started to lose hope that they would find him this late at night. An ambulance and a police car pulled up at the side of the road closest to the river. Sara took Greg to them, handing him over to the paramedics on board the ambulance, looking at the ground. Where in the world was Wirt? This was a nightmare...Jason walked over to her and pat her back, trying to comfort her. Wirt was very important to her. She thought he was cute, his awkward behavior was adorable, and he was smart too, always trying to think things over, coming up with solutions to problems. He would get out of this, right? One of the Paramedics asked her if she had Greg's Home Phone number. She took a moment before nodding. They would call them when they got back to the hospital. She bid farewell to her friends as she got in the back of the ambulance, resting the frog she found with Greg on his chest. It seemed important to him, anything to make him more comfortable.

 

_Wirt gasped as he watched his brother, entangled in branches, roots, and leaves of the Edelwood growing around him, slowly breathing, it becoming more and more labored with each inhale. There had to be a way to get him out of this! Beatrice was busy trying to pull some of the small branches up with her beak, Wirt grabbing at them and desperately trying to pull them away from his brother. Wirt was startled by a loud thump and a groan, looking behind him to see the Woodsman on the ground, in pain and groaning, a sorrowful look on his face. There he was, The Beast, the ghost of the forest, he who sings like the four winds, the death of hope, standing, towering above Wirt in the shadows, the only truly distinguishable feature on The Beast was his large, glowing eyes, gazing downwards at the teenager, Wirt held The Woodsman's lantern close to himself, his heart beat quickening and his eyes widening, not daring to move his eyes from The Beast's form._

_"Give me my lantern," The deep voice of The Beast permeated the cold silence of the forest, staring down at Wirt, unmoving. Wirt looked at the lantern in his hand._

 

_"Your lantern?" Beatrice quickly butted in, flapping over and hovering next to Wirt, facing The Beast in brave defiance._

_"No way we need this thing!" That was true, Wirt's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the large figure._

 

_"Yeah I'm keeping this, I have to get Greg home!" He said quickly, a look of doubt on his face. It seems that The Beast had sensed this doubt, because he was quick to answer, still unmoving._

 

_"Your brother is too weak to go home," He said with a shrug, "He will soon become part of my forest..."_

 

_"I won't let that happen!" Wirt cracked, taking a more defensive stance._

 

_The beast seemed amused, looking down at him. "Well then...Perhaps we better make a deal..." Wirt's head cocked to the side, eyes narrowing._

_"Deal?" He raised the lantern up more, looking down at The Woodsman, who was giving him a look of pity. Perhaps this was the same deal that The Woodsman had with The Beast._

_"I can put his spirit in the lantern," The beast said, moving his long arm to point at the lantern gripped tightly in the teenager's hand. "As long as the flame stays lit, he will live on inside." Wirt looked at the lantern, thinking long and hard. "So? Take on the task as lantern bearer? Or watch as your brother perishes..." Wirt thought long and hard, The Beast getting impatient, his voice becoming more firm. "Come here." He ordered._

_Wirt closed his eyes tightly, head hanging low as he sighed, "...Okay..."  He walked slowly towards the menacing shadow, a solemn look on his face. Beatrice gasped, following him._

 

_"Wirt!" She watched as Wirt started to put the lantern down, before his eyes lit up and he quickly picked it back up again._

 

_"Wait..." He paused, "That's dumb," He said, backing up._

_"What?" There was clear anger in The Beast's voice._

 

_"That's dumb, I'm not just gonna wander around in the woods for the rest of my life," Wirt continued._

 

_The Beast was clearly angered, leaning forward. "I'm trying to help you!" His voice more angered. Wirt shook his head._

 

_"You're not trying to help me, you just have this weird obsession with keeping this...lantern lit! It's almost like...Your soul is in this lantern." The Beast, being found out, quickly moved closer to Wirt, all little light that was around them disappeared, the only thing Wirt could see was The Beast's menacing eyes._

 

_"Are you ready to see true darkness?" Wirt shivered, obviously scared from the vague threat, but got his cool back, narrowing his eyes at the wide unmoving eyes._

_"Are you-" He cleared his throat after a bad voice crack, opening the lantern. "Are you?" And he went to go blow the lantern out._

_The light quickly came back, The Beast's voice growing worried, "No, don't!" And Wirt quickly became unimpressed, scoffing, and putting the lantern down, handing it to the Woodsman, "Here, Woodsman. I've got my own problems to take care of, this one's yours, my brother and I are going home," He said, starting to walk back to his brother, but what he saw was horrifying, the wood around his brother were growing at an increased rate, quickly suffocating, mere seconds from death. Wirt lost all judgement and quickly turned around._

 

_"Beast!" He yelled out. "Stop stop stop! I'll do it!" He said, quickly taking the lantern back up. "I'll do it!" The Beast looked at him, his head cocked to the side._

 

_"Hm. Very well. Yet you'll have no incentive to stay here...Perhaps if I...Guaranteed your brother's safety, let him go home, would you stay? Become my new lantern bearer, live here in the woods forever, bound to The Unknown," The roots growing around Greg stopped, giving him a slightly longer life. Wirt looked back at him, and then back at the Beast._

 

_"As long as he is safe, at home...Then yes, I will stay here forever..." He mumbled. The Beast laughed,_

_"Very good, boy. We have a deal," He said, holding his hand out, and Wirt silently took it, shaking it before looking over at Beatrice, who had horror in her eyes. He took the scissors out of his pocket, and holding them out to her._

 

_"Wirt! The scissors! You had them this whole time?!" She flew over._

 

_"Well...I used them to escape Adelaide and I was...Well I was sorta mad at you...We'll still be friends, right Beatrice?" He asked._

 

_She sighed. "Oh you...Wonderful mistake of nature!" She hugged him, taking the scissors with her feet. When Wirt looked back at  Greg, he was gone, the Edelwood an empty shell of a boy who was once there. The beast put a hand on Wirt's shoulder. "He is safe, I can guarantee it. Hold up the Lantern," He said, and Wirt did as he asked, seeing the vision of Sara, carrying Greg away to an ambulance. "I always do good on my deals, I am not deceiving you,"_

_Wirt looked back at him. "You_ _deceived The Woodsman, didn't you? Lying to him about his daugther," And The Beast laughed._

 

_"This is true, but I can assure you, my end of the deal is no lie, you are more useful than The Woodsman, you are younger, more spry, so to speak," He hummed. Wirt felt like he was telling the truth. If he wasn't, he would make him pay. But for some reason, he felt truth coming from the Beast. He looked over at Beatrice. "Go...Go save your family, Beatrice, I'll be alright," He said, and she was quiet before nodding.'_

_"I promise Wirt, I will find a way out of this for you," She said before flying off. The Woodsman finally stood up, looking at the boy, not saying anything. Clearly disappointed in him, before walking away, presumably to spend the rest of his days wandering, with no purpose, now that the lantern wasn't his. Wirt was now alone, alone with The Beast, alone with the death of hope. He felt vines wrap around him slightly, holding on just barely, before letting him go._

_"Shall we get moving then, boy? You have plenty of work to do," Wirt paused for a moment before nodding._

 

_"Yes..." He said, following The Beast deeper into the woods._

 

Greg woke up with a gasp, his eyes widened as he quickly sat up, looking around, "Wirt!" He yelled out, looking around, before laying his eyes on his parents, his mom and his dad, both sitting there with their eyebrows furrowed. His mother smiled.

"I'm so glad you're awake, Gregory...! Oh my goodness! Never do that again! You scared me and your father so much!" She said. She sighed before watching Greg looked around.

 

"Where's Wirt? Is he back home?" He asked innocently, looking up at his parents. Their faces showing sadness, but Greg didn't understand, he held his frog, looking at his parents waiting for an answer.

 

"We haven't found Wirt."


	2. No Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I'm actually trying to keep an upload schedule! That's so unlike me, haha. I'm glad you guys like it. I know I'm focusing a lot on Greg and Sara right now, but I promise Wirt will get more spotlight!
> 
> I feel like The Unknown's days are off from the normal world's. And its landmarks move around a lot, that will become more evident later.

Gregory was discharged from the hospital after a day of resting and warming up, lucky to get out of the situation with only a few scrapes and scratches, able to sit at home with his frog, that his mother allowed him to keep, playing in the backyard with him. Days turned into weeks, and there was still no sign of Wirt, the Police had found no trace of his older step brother, almost as if he disappeared into thin air all together. Greg wasn't exactly sure why he didn't come home with him. Greg remembered the Unknown. He wasn't exactly sure where or what it was. If it was just the forest across the river, or something more. All he knew was that Wirt was still there, that his brother was alive, unlike what his parent's thought. He rolled a ball over to his frog, watching him lightly hit it back to him with his head. Despite being a good kid, with really nothing wrong with him, Greg was unique. He was creative and had odd ideas, making him somewhat of a loner at his school. He didn't really have any friends to play with. He would usually hang around Wirt on the weekends, much to his brother's dismay, but with him missing, he had nobody but his loyal frog companion, Jason Funderberker to keep him company. That was fine, he was a good friend, but Greg missed Wirt. Terribly so. He kept idly passing the ball to his frog, taking it back from him, looking down at the ground before back up at the frog.

 

"Say...Do you think we can go back? Back to the woods! To rescue Wirt?" He asked, the frog croaked in response and Greg puffed his cheeks out before falling back on the grass, looking at the multicolored leaves slowly falling down to the ground. "Hm...The only thing is...I don't know how to get back there..." He rubbed his chin in thought before standing up. "We better go back inside Jason Funderberker! Time to make a plan to find Wirt! Hm!" He went and grabbed the frog, putting him atop his head as he marched right back into the house, opening the sliding door and seeing his father reading the morning newspaper. He spied the story that his father was reading.

 

_"16 year old goes missing on Halloween night, no traces found yet"_

 

 

His father looked over at him. "Hey there Greg," He said, a smile on his face. And Greg took the frog off of his head, holding him close to his chest.

 

"Hey Dad," Greg said, "I'm off to my room! I need to make a plan!" He said, taking a heroic stance, and his father laughed, tussling his hair.

 

"A plan for what, Greg?" He asked and Greg smiled.

 

"I know where Wirt is! I'm going to go save him! Me and Jason Funderberker are going to start putting together a plan!" And Greg's father's face fell, looking at Greg with a serious look.

 

"How many times do we have to tell you, Gregory? You aren't going back there, you aren't allowed at the graveyard, and by no means are you going back to the river. We've already lost one of our boys. By no means are we going to lose you, we already almost did," And Greg frowned.

 

"But dad! I wanna make the world a better place! And I think the world will be a better place if Wirt was back, if you just listen to me and Jason Funderberker we can -"

 

"No buts Greg! You aren't going over there, the police will take care of this!" And Greg sighed, putting the frog back on his head and walking back upstairs.

 

"Ain't that just the way..." He mumbled as he sat down onto his floor, taking out some crayons and pieces of paper, sitting the frog down next to the papers. "Okay, so how do we get back to the woods, do you think? Should we just go over the wall again? Or..." He hummed, tapping his chin with his red crayon before starting to draw a map of the graveyard, putting the wall in, sticking his tongue out in concentration and then eventually finishing it. Showing it to the frog, who croaked, "Okay Jason Funderberker! Listen up! Because this is important." He said. "So on Halloween we climbed up the tree, over the wall, landed on the train tracks...And fell into the river..." He hummed. "But I don't remember anything past that, until we started walking in the woods...So...How do you think we get there?" The frog croaked. "Hmmm...Maybe we should try doing the exact same thing over again?" He heard a knock on his door, and he harrumphed, walking over, his feet picking high off the ground, "What's the password?!"

 

"Uh...Goose?" Sara's muffled voice came from the other side of the door. And Greg hummed before opening the door.

 

"You may  enter!" He said, before giggling and running back over to where he was sitting before, "Hi Sara! What're you doing here?  Wirt isn't back yet. But I'm working on a cool plan to save him!" And she smiled, sitting down next to him.

 

"I just wanted to see how you were doing without your brother around, it seems like you're doing good. And what do you mean rescue your brother?" She asked, looking at the hastily drawn crayon map, arrows pointing every which way. 

 

"Well, nobody believes me, but I know where Wirt is, but the problem is..." He furrowed his brows, crossing his arms. "Nobody believes me! He's still lost in the woods! I know he's still in there because we were lost! Lost for a long time! And the last thing I remember was Wirt trying to save me...And then waking up at the hospital..." He grumbled.

 

"Wirt's in the woods? What do you mean? They've looked all over them, those woods really aren't that big..." She said, and Greg shook his head.

 

"No they're huge! And they got talking horses, birds, animals that go to school, scary guys with axes, my uncle lives there, there's witches and a bunch of frogs!" He paused. "And there's this big scary Beast who walks around the woods singing, and you can't really see any of him." He started. "And me, Wirt, and Jason Funderberker got lost in them! And Wirt hasn't come back yet, you believe me, right Sara?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

 

Sara paused for a moment. "I'm sorry Greg, I don't think so. Don't you think that might have been a bad dream when you were passed out?" She asked, and Greg shook his head, before remembering something, grabbing his frog.

 

"I'll prove it to you!" He said, shaking his frog back and forth, "This nice witch lady had a bell that controlled a girl around Wirt's age, he ate it." He said, "The ringing of the bell commands you! Show Sara that you exist," And sure enough, the frog's belly started glowing, and Sara widened her eyes. That was insane, she's never seen anything like that. Almost as if it was magic...She looked back up at Greg.

 

"...So what's your plan?" And Greg's eyes lit up.

 

* * *

 

 

Wirt wiped the beading sweat off his forehead, holding onto the axe with one hand, looking around with his lantern in the other. How long has it been? Days? Weeks? Years? He didn't even remember the first time he came into the unknown. He didn't even remember why he was here. He could swear it was a good reason though. He felt so alone, the cold air, freezing his bones. All he knew was that he was here, he was friends with the red head who lived at the old mill, stayed at The Woodsman's house on occasion when he let him, and that he served the one and only. It was hard to forget the day The Beast claimed him as his, even if he had forgotten why he was the Beast's in the first place. Wirt was doomed to walk through the woods, chopping the Edelwood, forever cursed to hear the Eldritch whispers of the beast, becoming paranoid at each and every turtle that walked by. Perhaps The Beast was near. Wirt could not sense his presence, but The Beast could sense his. There were times where he wouldn't see him for days, weeks even, those times were simultaneously the best and the worst. At least he didn't have to deal with The Beast's constant taunting, but he had to deal with the crippling loneliness he faced on the days alone. He sighed, looking at the lantern before finding shelter under an outcrop, built of of a tree's gnarled roots, and sat down, pulling his cloak around himself as tight as he could, closing his eyes. He was deep in the woods, the farther in you go, the darker and more tangled it got, the easier it was to get lost, here, the oldest Edelwoods stood, suffering in eternal darkness. Wirt closed his eyes, relaxing, and falling asleep. 

 

"Boy," came a commanding voice, a voice Wirt knew all too well, he jolted awake, his hat falling off his head, and he looked up, seeing the shadowy figure of The Beast. How long had he been asleep for? Where was he? Did he move? No...He was where he parked himself before his nap, he quickly stood up, looking at The Beast. The figure cocked his head. "Now why are you sleeping out here, in the cold...? Don't you know it's dangerous to do so? You could get hurt, freeze to death even..." He let forth a chuckle when Wirt narrowed his eyes.

 

"You know very well I can't freeze to death," Wirt said. Thanks to The Beast's magic, Wirt's life had been strengthened significantly, he never aged out of his teenage body, keeping the same look as long as The Beast wanted to keep him, as well as have him resist the elements better, though he conveniently left out the magic where he could stop Wirt from feeling physical pain. That wasn't needed. How would Wirt learn if he didn't suffer a little?

 

"You know very well not to speak to me like that, don't you?" The Beast mused, placing a shadowed hand on Wirt's shoulder. "You're doing well chopping down the Edelwood, even if you very well know what they actually are," He chuckled. "Perhaps you aren't as human as you once thought? I must be getting to you, Wirt..." He said, and Wirt shook his head.

 

"I cry every single time I cut into them, I can hear their screams..." He pause, "But..."

 

"But?"

 

"But I do it because...Because it's for you Beast," Wirt mumbled.

 

"And what am I to you, boy?" He asked, moving an oily hand up to his cheek. 

 

"You're everything to me, Beast..." 

 

"That's right, now, I expect you to keep working, exhaustion is no excuse. I'm sure I will see you again soon, and we will be able to spend more time together," The Beast promised, and Wirt shivered, before his hand disappeared off of him, and the only sound Wirt heard was The Beast's haunting sound, overtaking the sound of the Wind, and sending another shiver down his spine, before picking the lantern and axe up again, searching for the next poor tree to be chopped down. This was for a good reason, Wirt felt like a hero...He just couldn't remember why. He'd remember someday.


End file.
